The phrase “artificial intelligence” can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For some, it rouses fear of sentient machines vying to control the world. For others, it is an example of incredible scientific achievement. Whether you fear A.I. or revere it, you can be certain of one thing: artificial intelligence isn’t the future. It’s the now.

If you’re reading this blog on a web browser in the US, there is a 30%* chance that you’re using an adblocker right now (roughly twice as likely as in 2014*). It’s pretty clear that internet users aren’t fond of spammy advertising on the internet.

While TV and print budgets continue to decrease year after year, out-of-home budgets continue to grow with an estimated $29 billion for global out-of-home ad revenue in 2017. It’s projected to reach $33 billion by 2021, reported by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and MAGNA Intelligence Study. So how is it that the oldest form of advertising is still growing year after year? The answer is technology and data.

I am a fan of Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, so I am well versed in the art of avoiding spoilers. As technology grows and changes we must adapt – modern day media Darwinism. Unfortunately, for many Olympic viewers, they were not prepared for the growing trend in media coverage – NOTIFICATIONS (Spoil-ylmpics?)! Evil, evil notifications sent to your phone or pushed out on social media by local and national media to take away the joy and surprise of who would be taking home that Olympic gold.